For the media

Gasum and City of Lappeenranta sign agreement on transport use of biogas

Jaa:

Gasum and the City of Lappeenranta have signed a cooperation agreement for the promotion of the use of biogas as a road vehicle fuel and sustainable development in Lappeenranta and the South Karelia region. According to the agreement, the City of Lappeenranta companies will replace some of their vehicles with low-emission gas vehicles. Gasum will supply 100% Finnish, inexpensive and environmentally friendly biogas for these vehicles.

The first biogas vehicle relating to the agreement has now been taken into use in the South Karelia Social and Health Care District (Eksote). The leased IVECO Daily van is used for purposes including Eksote’s internal moves and furniture relocations.

"Biogas vehicles are competitive as regards operating costs, and their leasing is an economically advantageous option. This is also coupled with ecological benefits as biogas is considerably more environmentally friendly than current fuels," Eksote Logistics Manager Henna Granqvist points out.

There are two gas filling points in South Karelia, one in Lappeenranta and another in Imatra. Granqvist says these are along the natural routes of the biogas vehicles to be introduced by Eksote.

The current cooperation agreement with Gasum is to do with a decision made by the City of Lappeenranta, its group companies and Eksote in March 2017 that they will mainly acquire vehicles fueled on renewables, that is, biogas and electricity, in the future.

"Many municipalities and cities are currently interested in the low cost and environmental friendliness of gas as a vehicle fuel, and it’s great that the City of Lappeenranta is leading the way in this," says Gasum Sales Manager Juha-Matti Koskinen.

Fuel cost savings for the city

According to the cooperation agreement between Gasum and the City of Lappeenranta, the City and its companies make a commitment to acquire and use by the end of 2017 at least 20 biogas-fueled cars, vans, lorries or waste management vehicles.

"The cost savings achieved by the City thanks to the agreement will be, for example, for 30 vehicles more than €90,000, which means around €30,000 per year. The savings come from fuel costs," says Markus Lankinen, who develops innovative purchasing for the City of Lappeenranta.

The intention is to only use biogas in the gas vehicles. Its calculated emissions are zero. This means the emission reduction directly equals the emissions of the vehicles replaced.

"If we calculated that the City’s companies switch to a total of 30 biogas vehicles driving 20,000 kilometers, the annual emission reduction would be 100 tonnes CO2e. Carbon dioxide equivalent – CO2e – describes the combined total global warming potential of all greenhouse gases,” specifies Petri Kero, Advisor from the City of Lappeenranta enterprise development company, Wirma.

The new biogas-fueled vehicles can be spotted in the streets on the basis of the green Biogas Label. This provides biogas as a vehicle fuel with visibility in South Karelia, and the stickers will also encourage others to switch to gas-fueled vehicles.